A few weeks ago, I had the honour of shooting Victoria and Garry's wedding over in Manchester.
We started the day with bridal prep at the couples home in Wythenshawe before moving on to St. Georges Church at Poynton.  The reception then followed at the Cheadle Village Hotel. 
The day started with a blustery grey morning and a few spots of rain, but as I made my way over the Peaks, things were looking a bit better.  By the time I arrived in Stockport I was roasting! 
The bridal prep was a blast, with little Lexi and Logan keeping me on my toes - and fuelled up with a cuppa, we soon got into the swing of things.
Before we knew it, it was time for church.
The ceremony was lovely, but I'd already had the warning that's every photographers nightmare - banished to the back with a firm 'no photos' instruction from the vicar.  We managed a few sneaky ones though.
Once the 'I do's' were done (although no wedding couple ever actually say I do!) it was on to the reception venue. 
That's when the rain hit.
The wedding car was forced to do a pit stop to get the roof up before the couple got drenched, but everyone still arrived in high spirits with big smiles.
Speeches were said, drinks were drunk, toasts were raised, food was eaten, songs were played and dances were danced.

A proper awesome day.

Thanks for having me guys, I had a blast.

Here's a few pics from their day. 

After visiting the castle, it was time for the worst part of the trip - the journey home.
We decided to liven up the drive by taking the scenic route - through the beautiful Cumbrian countryside. 
We stopped off for a picnic at Thirlmere - a reservoir that sits beside the massive Helvellyn mountain range.
We had a little walk through the trees and a mini picnic on the banks of the reservoir.
Our visit was cut short though, as the storm clouds soon came thundering over the mountains and quickly turned our once-sunny-day into a grey drizzly blur!
I'm sure we'll be back soon though - the place was beautiful as well as peaceful.

As usual, some snaps below. 

Day 3 was a perfect blue skies and sunshine kind of day, so we looked for somewhere outside to take the boys and decided on Carlisle Castle.
The castle is over 900 years old and is steeped in history - being built during the reign of the son of William the Conqueror.  Mary, Queen of Scots was once imprisoned here.  It's fair to say that it has seen a bit of action in it's time!
My two youngest boys had fun running around exploring all the nooks and crannies.  My eldest just stropped around like a typical teenager.
Alfie took part in the 'What it's like to be a Redcoat' display and our little Freddie Bear ran riot - wearing a bandana like some kind of crazy, miniature pirate in a castle!
We had ice creams on the grass to cool down, then visited the little Regimental Museum that's there.

It's a nice place to visit - very child friendly and quite a bit to look at.  For more info on the castle click here.

Here are a few snaps.

Our second day of our little road trip was our friends' wedding day!  I've known Alex and Liz for a long time, but don't see them as much these days as they now live over the water in 'Norn Iron'.  I've known these two lasses since myself and Alex used to work together many years ago.  They are an awesome laugh and two of the most genuine, funny, affable women you could ever meet.  We had lots of drinks, lots of laughs and a superb time.  Didn't get too many snaps of the happy couple as I was busy having a good time and chasing the almostbutalreadyterribletwo year old little monster mini-me all over the place! 
The wedding was at Gretna Green, with the ceremony at Anvil Hall and the following reception at the Smiths Hotel.
Did I already say we had an awesome time?  You get the drift...

Here are a few snaps.

We had a friend's wedding to attend on Saturday up at Gretna Green, so we made a weekend out of it and turned our journey into a little road trip!

Our first stop was The Angel of the North up in Tyne and Wear, near Gateshead. 
This 66 feet tall, 200 tonnes steel sculpture stands proudly on a little hill, arms outstretched ready to embrace it's visitors. 
It's a pretty impressive thing to stand underneath, but I must admit - I was looking for something standing taller when we were looking for it on the drive up.  I was pretty surprised when it finally appeared behind the bushes just ahead of us at the roadside. 
We sat, had a cuppa, took some snaps and selfies like the rest of the visitors, then it was back in the car.

Our next stop was Hadrian's Wall.
We parked up at the Twice Brewed Inn and had some food (and a sneaky pint of ale for me).  After we were finished stuffing our faces, we trekked over the road and up the hill to the wall.
We had a little explore round Milecastle 39 and the famous Sycamore Gap (featured in the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Movie).
The wall now stands about a metre and a half high in most places - imagining it as it once would have looked standing at 20 feet high is pretty impressive. 
Walking along and sitting on the rocks that have sat here for nearly 2,000 years was a pretty humbling experience.  Well, I thought so - my kids just wanted to jump off things!

All the walking did the trick though - once we got to our Travelodge for the night, the little monster was zonked! 

Here are a few snaps.